flue

¹

[floo]

noun

1. a passage or duct for smoke in a chimney.

2. any duct or passage for air, gas, or the like.

3. a tube, especially a large one, in a fire-tube boiler.

4. Music.

   1. flue pipe.

   2. Also called windway. a narrow slit in the upper end of an organ pipe through which the air current is directed.

flue

²

[floo]

noun

1. downy matter; fluff.

flue

³

Or flew

[floo]

noun

1. a fishing net.

flue

¹

/ fluː /

noun

1. a shaft, tube, or pipe, esp as used in a chimney, to carry off smoke, gas, etc

2. music the passage in an organ pipe or flute within which a vibrating air column is set up See also flue pipe

flue

²

/ fluː /

noun

1. loose fluffy matter; down

flue

³

/ fluː /

noun

1. a type of fishing net

flue

⁴

/ fluː /

noun

1. another word for fluke 1 fluke 1

Other Word Forms

• flued adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of flue¹

First recorded in 1555–65; earlier flew; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old English flēwsa “a flowing, flux,” the form flews being taken as plural

Origin of flue²

First recorded in 1580–90; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Old English flug- (in flugol “swift, fleeting”); perhaps from Flemish Dutch vluwe, from French velu “hairy, downy”; velvet ( def. )

Origin of flue³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English flue, flowe, flew, from Middle Dutch vl(o)uwe “fishing net”; akin to Old English flōwan flow ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of flue¹

C16: of unknown origin

Origin of flue²

C16: from Flemish vluwe , from Old French velu shaggy

Origin of flue³

Middle English, from Middle Dutch vlūwe

Example Sentences

He described it as a bioethanol fireplace that does not need a chimney flue, where liquid is poured on to a cotton gauze to create a "candle effect".

Read more on BBC

However, sounds from things like flue organ pipes or flutes, which are propagated through air, would be pitched higher than Earth.

Read more on Salon

Both stoves are connected to a small flue - a pipe within a chimney that allows smoke to escape - that leads up through the chapel roof to the outside.

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Oregon State University scientists have found a way to more than double the uptake ability of a chemical structure that can be used for scrubbing carbon dioxide from factory flues.

Read more on Science Daily

While renewable energy sources are already reducing the need for CO2-emitting, fossil fuel-burning power plants, industrial plants that make intense use of fossil fuels are harder to make sustainable, so flue gas capture is essential.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• chimney 
• duct